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@judenonesuch
Firstly brilliant story and well done for sticking with it.
The last reply has just reminded me of a thing that happened to me - which I only just remember has quite some relevance to some of the earlier comments about hand gestures -
I was riding along a fairly narrow residential street, cars parked on either side, about 100 yards from a t-junction onto a fairly main thoroughfare. Due to the parked cars there is basically one lane's worth of road space available, so I'm going up it about 2 metres out from the parked cars on my side, maybe three-and-a-bit metres from those on the other side. As I get to about 50 yards from the junction a car comes up behind me, revs, then goes for it round me in a break in the parked cars on the right, in a really exaggerated, aggressive overtaking maneuvre. It then of course has to slow right down again for the t-junction. I do the taking-both-hands-of-the-bars shrugging
what the hell are you doing?' gesture, and say "what the hell do you thnk your doing?". Car slams on the brakes; reverse light comes on; car accelerates in reverse towards me. I have anoh shit' moment, and jump on the pedals to go round the car's left hand side, riding off for all my life's worth. The driver puts it back in forward and accelerates after me; I fly left at the t-junction without checking for traffic and then go up on the pavement about 100 yards down the road, the car has now decided trying to kill me probably isn't worth it and sails by - I notice there are actually two occupants in the car, the driver and presumably his girlfriend. I called the police and had a witness but gave up on following it up (like I didn't even return the police's phone calls. Stupid, but, anxiety eh?)So, this stuff happens even with the mildest of gestures, is basically what I'm trying to say. I don't think anyone could consider my actions at all offensive or provocative, but the driver still flipped out (- I think he might have just thought it hilarious to `shit me up'. But hey, attempted murder is as attempted murder does, as they say)